A Lot Has Changed In 11 Years...

11 years ago today, I was dressed in my wedding finery, trying to convince my mother that a smile would photograph better than a nerve-induced rictus. She regretted not accepting the Ativan that my mother-in-law to be had offered her...

Until later that day, I was still living at home with my parents and two of my brothers. I had a room with a twin bed, pictures of Mikhail Baryshnikov on the walls, and a hutch full of penguins. I had stuffed animals hanging in a hammock in the corner...a doll crib bedside the bed with my preemie Cabbage Patch kid, Lucille Claudia...and a cheesy romance novel on my bedside table.

My brother's old room was stacked with items for my new married life, gifts from wedding showers...Tupperware, Corningware, bowls, dishes, measuring spoons and cups, bedding, cookbooks and on and on.

11 years ago, I was a 112 lb size 6 (oh, how I miss those days!), and working for SunLife Financial. I worked in the health claims department under a cruel manager(I won't name names, but...oh, what the hell. CRYSTAL!) who I really hope has got what she deserved, and is now sitting in her own personal hell being poked by devil's minions with razor-sharp pitchfork tines...oh, but I digress. I wore Braemore suits to work, and my hair was Laboratoire Garnier's shade of Red Penny Auburn, not to mention about a foot longer than it is now...I wore contact lenses instead of glasses.

My social life took place at my friends' apartments in Toronto, or at pubs that served $2 beers on Thursdays. I did not have children. I did not volunteer for Healthy Snack days or field trips. I did not spend my hard-earned cash at the Children's Place, but rather on books by the pound at Costco.

My stomach was still able to accomodate 4 cups of coffee a day, and my life was not spent on the internet. I didn't have a home e-mail address. There was no blogging or Facebook. On weekends, I slept until the late afternoon, with no guilt.

Mark and I spent the summer camping in a tent, and staying up around the fire, drinking and telling jokes with our friends...and my canon camera carried 35mm film instead of a memory card.

I did not own furniture, or appliances. I spoke to my mother 100 times a day, and had breakfast with her 5 mornings a week. After the wedding, what is now Ty's room became the office, the boys' room was the spare room. We had new furnishings. All that lay ahead...was our future.

And 11 years later, the office is in the corner of the basement, our billards room is now the toy room, sleeping in on a weekend is something to look forward to in a decade to come. 11 years later, I have three boys, I work from home, and I volunteer at my sons' school. I make cakes, and Hallowe'en costumes, and knit sweaters for Webkinz.

Is this where I thought I'd be in 11 years? Not exactly. Am I happy with the way things turned out? A few exceptions, but I'd say yes. I wish a little more work would come my way...I wish I could see my friends more often...most of all, I wish that I could still call my mother 100 times a day.

But after 11 years, my husband and I still love each other, and I can't even think of living out my life with anyone else at my side. So, to you Mark, I wish you a very Happy 11th Wedding Anniversary...and I hope to celebrate many, many, many more.

Here We Go Again...

Well, just when I had thought the journey was reaching, if not completion, then at least a flat stretch of road during which I could set the cruise control and coast for a bit, it turns out that Ty need speech therapy as well. As he is now about 2 1/2, he should be using 2 and 3 word sentence combinations, and aside from the few he knows, like thank you, all gone, oh boy, etc., he is not really doing so on anything close to a consistent basis. It could be that he is just a slow talker, but I thought the same thing at first with Keegan, and so this time I am willing to err on the side of caution, and get him into speech therapy a year earlier. Maybe it will help to avoid the receptive language issues that Keegan has now.

So today, he had his first session. It went pretty well, I think. He was a bit shy, as he had never met the speech path before, and he was introduced to many new toys and things. But she managed to coax a few words out him with the aid of toy and food bribes. (Hey, he likes goldfish crackers! Who knew?)

So he goes for the next two Mondays as well, then we take a break to work on all of the goals that the speech path will set for him.

In other news, I had a slew of tests run lately, determining that I am very low in iron, so I am on a supplement for that, and eating lean beef twice a week. My thyroid was acting up, but showed okay on the last test, so I am going to be tested monthly for the next little while to ensure that it isn't fluctuating any more. I had some other tests run as well, and when I get my results back (hopefully this week) I will update on that as well.

School is going well for the boys. Keegs had a few hiccups at the beginning, but I think that they were just due to transition anxieties, and now his teacher reports that he is a very eager student, very willing to please, and contributes regularly to discussions and loves music and library time.

Speaking of library time, at his school, they have this great program in place, where every child in the kindergarten class gets matched up with a grade 4 reading buddy, who helps them pick out books in the library, and reads with them. Keegan's buddy is Mitchell, and he adores him.

Keegan informed me today that he and his girlfriend Rebecca are going to get married, but they are taking Grandpa's advice and waiting until they turn 6. Too cute! Must be a Carroll child, with a girlfriend (and pseudo-fiancee) at the age of 5!

Phoenix's world has turned quite social these days. He is delighted to be going to 3 birthday parties in the space of a month. His reading is much improved this year, and his teacher has indicated that he is now ready to start reading chapter books! Far cry from the kid who used to go into tearful convulsions if you tried to get him to read even a sentence last year. I am quite relieved. It was killing me to have a kid that hated to read, when I am such an avid reader! I couldn't understand. Books. Reading. What's not to like?

Next month I am taking Keegs and Phoenix to get their eyes tested. And also next month is Ty's global assessment, which if you remember from when I took Keegan, is basically a general testing to see if he has any delays in speech, language, fine and gross motor, behaviour and all that jazz. If he has two or more, he will be eligible for the subsidy and subsequent assistance when he goes into preschool in the fall.

Mark spent all day Saturday hosting the Field and Stream Rescue Team's 1st Annual Freezer Open Golf Tournment. For his first year doing it, it went rather well. People were very good about donating prizes for the event, and after all expenses and stuff, he was able to raise about $600 for the cause. I know that next year will be even better! Good job babe!

And speaking of Mark, he and I will be celebrating our 1o year anniversary this Thursday! It's been a wild decade, and I am so glad we were able to live it together. Here's to at least 8 more decades together! ( I realized that we the other day that we had coasted through the 7-year itch without even noticing! Must be a good sign.)

Hope everyone has a good week, and enjoys some better weather than the overcast drizzly crapola we are getting here. Bye for now...